Norwood applies for recreation grant to enhance Coakley field

Norwood Recreation Director Jerry Miller’s proposed expansion of recreation activities as the Coakley Middle School has been reduced significantly.

Brad Cole

Norwood Recreation Director Jerry Miller’s proposed expansion of recreation activities as the Coakley Middle School has been reduced significantly.

At the Tuesday, July 9, Selectmen meeting, Selectmen approved applying for a Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities (PARC) grant application to convert one field at the Coakley Middle School into an artificial turf field by a vote of 4-1, with Selectman Helen Abdallah-Donohue opposed.

“A well maintained, well irrigated field should average about 400 to 450 uses a year. All three of these fields average over 1,000 a year,” Miller said. “Field two is not irrigated and it takes a beating all year round.”

Town Meeting member Rick Morrison said the plan was to replace the field six years ago, but the football team needed a field during construction of the high school. The teams used the Coakley, but because football is an intense sport, the fields were decimated, Morrison said.

Miller said field two should be the first to be replaced.

“It’s usable, but if you have an opportunity to look at it, it’s not in very good condition. It’s overused,” Miller said.

This is part of a long running plan to revamp the fields in Norwood. Miller said the field committee goes back to 1999, and artificial turf fields at the Coakley Middle School are the culmination of the project.

“This is something we’ve been trying to do in this town for a very long time,” Selectman Mike Lyons said. “The Recreation Department and the field study committee has been working toward these goals. This is, as we’ve discussed, an extremely scaled back project from the higher aspirations that Mr. Miller had for the area. It seems to me he’s just looking to improve the situation as it stands right now.”

This project is a drastic reduction from previous iterations of the project. Previously, Miller proposed a $3.6 million project. That project called for replacing the fields with turf fields, replacing the lights around the fields, adding an open-air classroom, building a pavilion in front of Hawes Pool, renovating the old bathhouse at the pool, adding horseshoe pits, bocce court and shuffleboard, installing a walking track with exercise stations around the school’s field, adding an ADA compliant playground, adding a bathroom to the existing concession stand and cleaning the two ponds behind the pool.

“I think this, what you’re talking about tonight, is a completely different project from what you’ve shown us in the past, an expansion,” Lyons said.

The current plan and application only included converting one field into a turf field. The other elements of the project have been removed, Miller said.

“In my heart, I’m trying to provide the best facility for the community,” Miller said, but followed the recommendation to scale the project down.

Some residents expressed concerned improvements removed from the grant application.

“I do appreciate that Mr. Miller wants to improve the area, but I’ve been before this group several times in support of the (Hawes Pool) bathhouse. I think that should be the top priority and not pushed off to another year,” Town Meeting member Patty Bailey said.

Town Meeting member Madeline Eysie said that while she has no objection to long-term improvements to the field, she wants to see improvements at Hawes Pool.

She suggested cleaning up the bleachers, moving the bike racks to a new location, planting new grass and replacing the benches at the tot lot.

“The visual improvements I’d like to see at Hawes Pool are the same as the visuals at Father Mac’s,” Eysie said.

Donohue was the sole selectman to vote against the grant application. The grant would reimburse up to $400,000 of the project’s cost. Norwood would have to front the $800,000 required for the project. Donohue said those funds could be better used elsewhere.

“We have a big list of repairs that need to be done at the schools,” Donohue said, specifically citing the Coakley Middle School’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.

Staff writer Brad Cole can be reached at 781-433-8339 or bcole@wickedlocal.com. Like The Norwood Transcript and Bulletin on Facebook and follow @bradcolewrites and @NorwoodTranscri on Twitter.